Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, says the South-East geopolitical zone’s bid to produce the president in 2023 might be jeopardised by the secessionist agitations led by Nnamdi Kanu’s Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Yakasai, 96, stated this during a Sunday interview on Channels TV, a clip of which was sighted by this reporter.
Kanu is standing trial for terrorism-related charges before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The Federal Government blames Kanu-led IPOB’s security outfit, Eastern Security Network (ESN) for a spate of attacks on individuals as well as private and government properties in the South-East, a claim the group has consistently denied.
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As the 2023 general election inches closer, there have been greater calls for the South-East to produce the next president of the country in the spirit of equity and justice.
Addressing such calls, Yakasai said Igbo people must strategise to clinch the presidency rather than expect to be dashed.
“The card is on the South Eastern people’s desk. It is up to them to try to reach out. I’m a strong supporter of a President from the South after Buhari and also if he can come from the South-East I have no problem.
“My quarrel is that this is not something you just stay at home and pray that people will just dash it to you; you have to show interest, you have to be serious, you have to try to convince people that you are really up to the task. This is what in my opinion is missing from the South-East.
“There is that desire on their part but they are not exact in their position to manifest that desire to convince people that are rarely serious about it.
“There is this anxiety in Nigeria about the position of the South-East because it is surprising to many people including people like me…This Nnamdi Kanu who ordinarily to me would not be a good candidate for the governorship of any of the South-Eastern state is now claiming the attention (and) support of prominent people in the South-East is making people doubt if the South-East is really ready to produce a credible candidate that would help Nigeria as a whole. That doubt is there,” Yakasai said.